Shooting To Kill
by greatunironic
Summary: [prequel to 'Tuesday's Children'] 'Don't forget. Never forget.' And then, Malcolm died.


Author: greatunironic 

Rated: PG (though, it is character death and a rather painful one at that)

Disclaimer: Nope.

Feedback: Sure, why not.

Summary: prequel to 'Tuesday's Children' 'Don't forget. Never forget.' And then, Malcolm died.

Etc.: Okay, now this is the prequel to 'Tuesday's Children'. TC doesn't need to be read first (this is a prequel), but it's kind of cool to read it that way. Oh, by the by, the foreign language is Latin and there are translations for it at the bottom. It's like how Daniel died from Stargate, but not quite. It's mainly because I've always been fascinated by what radiation does to the human body; you know, disassembles it and what not. And thank you's to all you cats and kittens who reviewed TC. This is because you wanted to know how Malcolm died.

Shooting To Kill

1. e pluribus unum 1

"We require the transportation device to be engaged and a medical team to meet us there."

Those words would prove to be fatal, the herald of doom. With those words, T'Pol turned into the legendary Cassandra as she prophesied the destruction of Troy. And that doomed city was this time a man; this time Malcolm Reed.

And so T'Pol and Malcolm were brought aboard. Captain Archer, Doctor Phlox, and a medical team went to them and met them in the hall. Malcolm had his hands held up at his chest and T'Pol followed him, two paces behind. One of the medics tried to take one of Malcolm's hands, but he pulled back and said harshly, "Don't touch me." T'Pol gravely informed them that he had been exposed to radiation. She looked at Malcolm's back as the medics followed him away. She continued on in her grave voice and told them how much it had been. Phlox's eyes widen and one could almost say T'Pol was showing the human emotion of grief as she said, "It is a lethal amount."

Cassandra and Troy. T'Pol and Malcolm. They are one in the same.

2. to hell

"The man...he—he was working on the device. T'Pol said that she could tell he was trying to sabotage it. I told her to get out. She said that it was illogical for me to stay and be exposed. I forced her out of the room. I—I whipped the door open and ran in. The radiation had already killed the man. I took the device apart because I didn't know what else to do. I had to do it, sir. Everyone on that planet would have died if I hadn't. I had to, sir."

Jon didn't know what to think. One of his best officers just laid down his life for the lives of hundreds of millions from a planet they didn't belong to. But he knew that Malcolm had done what was right (the needs of many out weigh the needs of one); he just couldn't help but want to turn back time and stop Malcolm.

"Captain." Malcolm knew what Jon was thinking. And he didn't approve. "My job is to lay down my own life for the lives of others. It doesn't matter if they are the people I have been assigned to protect. I am the protector. I couldn't just let them die."

He knew. He knew Malcolm had done what he needed to do. Jon looked at Malcolm's bandaged hands. The radiation was destroying his skin, his hands first. Jon just wished Malcolm didn't need to save them.

"I would have followed you to hell, as well, Jon."

"Yes," Jon said. "I know you would've, Malcolm."

And Jon promised himself that he wouldn't forget that.

3. semper fidelis 2

Trip sat in front of Malcolm, who was sitting on a biobed in the middle of a sterile isolation room. Trip, Malcolm, the bed, and various medical instruments were the only things in the room. Trip was morbidly fascinated by the cuts on Malcolm's pale face and the bandages that ran all up his arms and the blood that was seeping through them. His flesh was being burnt. His body was collapsing in on itself. He was being eaten alive from the inside out by the radiation poisoning.

They sat in silence for a while before Malcolm said suddenly, "I have a tattoo." Trip looked at Malcolm questioningly. "I got it when I was—eighteen?—yeah, eighteen. Madeline dared me to. She got one also. She was—fourteen? Fifteen?—fifteen. We thought it would piss our father off. It did. Hers is a sun and moon on the inside of her ankle. She loves it."

Trip asked what Malcolm got. He turned around. Trip could see it was hurting him. Malcolm tried to lift up the thin shirt the sickbay had provided him, but it hurt him too much. Trip helped him pull it up. He ignored the bleeding skin and focused on the exposed words of 'semper fidelis' in the small of Malcolm's back.

"It means 'always faithful'," Malcolm told him as he turned around. "Madeline suggested it." They were silent again for a while, Trip pondering how true 'semper fidelis' was, and then Malcolm asked, "If I asked you to...would you kill me?" His face was solemn, serious.

"What?" Trip asked.

"Would you?" Malcolm pressed. "Would you kill me? If I asked?"

Remembering the tattoo, he looked at Malcolm and Trip knew. "Would yew ask me?"

"Maybe," whispered Malcolm. He stared at his bandaged hands and then he looked up at Trip. "I don't... I don't want to die, not like this."

"If yew asked me," Trip said slowly, the tattoo in his mind (semper fidelis, always faithful), "I would."

Malcolm lifted his hand and put it next to Trip's hand that lay on the biobed on which Malcolm sat. They both stared at the bandaged hand and then Trip looked back up at Malcolm. "Thank you," said Malcolm quietly. Trip nodded.

He promised himself that he would never forget this last quiet moment he was sharing with his dying friend.

4. to life ... and its many deaths

And then, he died.

He never did ask Trip to kill him.

But he died anyway.

Malcolm spent fifteen hours of pure agony with Trip and Jon and others by his side as his body slowly deconstructed itself internally and he bled to death. Phlox had Malcolm pumped full with so many drugs to lessen the pain, Malcolm really didn't know they were with him. Malcolm died anyway because, well, tempus fugit 3, and they couldn't save him.

So Malcolm left them with only his irradiated body and his words in his wake. And they whispered to themselves as he took his last breath.

Don't forget. Never forget.

End

Latin Translations

1 e pluribus unum – from many, one

2 semper fidelis – always faithful

3 tempus fugit - time flies


End file.
